Sharpton, journalists call for radio personality’s resignation for using slur

April 7, 2007

NEW YORK - Unimpressed by his on-air apology or corporate promises of a tighter leash, angry critics of nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus called Saturday for his dismissal over his racially charged comments about the mostly black Rutgers women’s basketball team.

“I accept his apology, just as I want his bosses to accept his resignation,” said the Rev. Al Sharpton. He promised to picket Imus’ New York radio home, WFAN-AM, unless the veteran of nearly 40 years of anything-goes broadcasting is gone within a week.

Sharpton was not alone in his anger over Imus’ description of the Rutgers’ women as “nappy headed hos” during a Wednesday morning segment of his show, which airs for millions of listeners on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC television network.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Methinks Imus is feeling the weight of his age...and trying on Ann Coulter's little strategy to get attention while he still can...the more outrageously he behaves, the more attention he will get, for awhile. It's a temporary fix, though, because our society LOVES youth in the entertainment /news industry, and Imus may be on a fast track to being a has-been. Perhaps he just needs therapy like Michael Richards supposedly did...

It seems to me that not only did he and the others taking part in the on-air commentary insult the women of Rutgers, but they insulted all women with their references to "cute," and "woo."

Here are the exact comments:

Quote:

Imus: So, I watched the basketball game last night between — a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.

This all happened Thursday morning during an on-air discussion between Imus and three others, including McGuirk, that was filled with both sexist and racist commentary. Other comments added to the thread included a characterization of Rutgers' black team members as "jigaboos and wannabees," a reference from the 1988 film "School Daze" written and directed by Spike Lee.

MSNBC tried to distance itself by issuing a statement late Thursday night, declaring Imus' comments not its responsibility but admitting that the comments were offensive.

"While simulcast by MSNBC, 'Imus in the Morning' is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio. As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC. We regret that his remarks were aired on MSNBC and apologize for these offensive comments," MSNBC's statement said.

What about Imus' apology? On his web site, he has placed this apology prominently in the upper-right-hand corner: "[I] want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team. It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."

In an interview with The New York Times, Imus said people should relax and "not worry about some idiot saying something meant to be amusing." But the disrespectful and degrading comments made by Imus and others neither relaxed nor eased listeners. Instead, they spawned an immediate response from Rutgers University, stating: "We agree with Mr. Imus that this was, in his own words, an 'idiot comment.' We are very proud of the success of the Rutgers women's basketball team. Coach (Vivian) Stringer and the Rutgers players are outstanding ambassadors for this great institution."

The show, which is produced by New York City's WFAN radio station and syndicated by Westwood One, did not provide any statements. The show reaches an estimated 3.5 million listeners each week, according to Arbitron, a radio-audience research company.

Bryan Monroe, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, said Imus should be fired. "Those comments were beyond offensive," said Monroe on the NABJ web site.

My opinion is that it started with Nixon, and deepened with the msm's obsession with Bill Clinton's penis and whether or not oral sex constituted "having sex with that woman." But the Bushies have taken America into deeper cesspool waters, so nasty and dangerous that their cesspools make Bill's blowjob look like a walk in the park on a sunny day after having won the Georgia Lottery.

Sure, I think he'll survive, because there are more people who agree with him than there are those who disagree. His show will probably pick up more listeners, those who want to make sure he "checks his acid tongue, and those who will be cheering him on to become even worse. It's just an unfortunate quirk in our society...a sense of entitlement to make fun of those who might be different in some way, especially if you're a rich old white man who likes to hear the sound of your own voice.

Have Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson ever demanded that Rush Limbaugh be fired?

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

The anti-gay slur “faggot” is nothing more than “a naughty name.” [1/23/07]

“What happened to the Duke lacrosse team was practically a lynching without the rope. And for the first time in my life, Mr. Oreo Cookie without the chocolate on the outside can understand why people celebrated when O.J. Simpson was acquitted.” [1/15/07, using a racial slur for African-Americans that refers to “being black on the outside and white on the inside]

“[W]hat I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.’” [11/14/06, on what he would like to say to Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first elected Muslim member of Congress]

“I wonder if I’m alone in this — you know it took me about a year to start hating the 9-11 victims’ families? Took me about a year.” [9/9/05]

“And that’s all we’re hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones we’re seeing on television are the scumbags.” [9/9/05]

If Imus is going to be suspended for what he said, these two should also be suspended or told to clean up their act, and Sharpton and Jackson should be including them in their complaint.

As Al Roker said in his blog:

Quote:

I, for one, am really tired of the diatribes, the "humor" at others expense, the cruelty that passes for "funny". Don imus isn't the only one doing this, but today he's the one in the hot seat....Otherwise, it just looks like profits and ratings rule over decency and justice..

MSNBC announced Wednesday that it will cease its simulcast of the 'Imus in the Morning' program.

NBC News President Steve Capus said in a statement, "Over the course of the last week many of you have reached out to me and expressed your strong viewpoints on the Don Imus situation. I've had countless conversations, e-mail exchanges and phone calls with people throughout this company. I've heard you loud and clear. Therefore, we are announcing tonight that MSNBC will no longer simulcast the Imus radio program."

Capus cited concerns over the "integrity" of the NBC News division as the main reason for dropping the simulcast....

Imus' comments have had a far-reaching effect. A Stroudsburg, PA radio host was fired this morning after repeating the shock jock's words on his morning radio show. The host, Gary Smith, apologized for making "I'm a nappy-headed ho" his "Phrase that Pays" on the April 10th morning program. The station said that the comments "crossed the line."

Ok...while I support the actions taken against Don Imus, where does control of the airwaves stop and free speech, one of our Constitutional rights that has been tampered with far too much under the Bushies, begin?

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

Correct! One of them always seems to raise the ire of a few like Sharpton and Jackson just about the same time Bush and some of his cronies get their tails caught in the door...of course, that could just be coincidence!

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman

I know that their intentions are, and they probably still are, to meet with Mr. Imus and put a face with this man that stands behind the mike and makes those kind of remarks.

OLBERMANN: Yesterday, as I mentioned on the air here, the management within this company had asked that I withhold any formal comment or request of my own about this until you got the opportunity and your team got the opportunity to meet with don Imus.

Are—what worried me about that was that, once again, having been dragged into the spotlight unintentionally by all of this, your team was now, to some degree, getting the burden of what would happen with this man‘s television show put upon it. Are you relieved that that meeting, if it indeed takes place, is now just going to be a meeting, it‘s not necessarily going to be a referendum on a guy‘s career?

STRINGER: You know, Keith, to be honest, that was a statement that I was saying all along, that these young people shouldn‘t be responsible for the, you know, the fall or rise of Don Imus. They were only responding to the comments that were made about them. And we—that‘s all that we were all responding to. We didn‘t ask for his resignation.

I think that what—I had faith in, and that is, the American public. And that I think that really, this is the reaction to we, the people, not Mr. Imus, and I think that we put a face on the chairman or the president of MSNBC.

And all of us saying all along, whether it‘s a garbage trucker or a cameraman or a politician or a president, you know, we‘re all equal, we deserve respect and human dignity. And I think that people were able to separate that wasn‘t Rutgers women‘s basketball so much as it spoke to the broader issue, it spoke to the degradation of women and calling women as such. Every one of us has a mother and we had to, you know, put that in perspective.

And I think that that‘s what touched us. And I think that it‘s important that we, you know, we‘ve become so desensitized that we‘ve allowed a lot of things to pass, and we‘ve not been happy.

But it‘s been important that we as adults take a leadership role, that the corporate executives are the people that are there, because the corporations are what they are because of we, the people. But unfortunately, we, the people, haven‘t understood that, you know, too often politicians, leaders, and whatever, religious leaders (INAUDIBLE), whoever speak for us, and we sit back and don‘t realize the power in numbers, and that when we have had enough is enough.

I really think that this was reduced to the very human element of decency, you know, to make sure that these kinds of things are stopped. I hope that it doesn‘t stop with Mr. Imus, because he‘s not the only culprit. I think that some of us as adults, as parents, are responsible for some extent, because we haven‘t stepped up, you know, that the corporate executives have dealt with the color of all of this being green, and it‘s OK.

We see these things over time, you know, a kid that steals something with a plastic cap pistol, to spend 10 years in jail, and yet you see, you know, the white-collar workers, you know, thieves that still millions of dollars. I think that we‘ve just got to come back, we‘ve got to come back to some level of human decency. And I do think that if people stood up, and politicians don‘t wait for a poll but are strong enough to make a decision and stand.

And what people saw is these young ladies, you know, these 10 young

ladies who had done nothing wrong, but been stellar students in the

classroom and had a great story to tell about, you know, the fact that you

it doesn‘t matter where you come from, and it doesn‘t matter how you start, but how you finish. This team lost by 40 points to the number one team in the country on national television, first game of the season.

But you know what? Six months later, they defeated this team, the number one team in the country, there in North Carolina. That was the story. And it was such a special story, and this was a glorious moment.

This is something they never should never have forgotten. But instead,

they find themselves coming back to defend that they are these derogatory -

you know, to defend themselves against these derogatory remarks.

And I think that that‘s what touched people, because they were able to not see them in a basketball uniform, but they saw them as their daughters and their nieces and their grandmothers and their mothers, and people began to say, Where is our sense of human decency? Tell me anyone that can listen to this and absolve themselves or insulate themselves from the hurt that was, you know, you know, that was thrust upon these young ladies.

And that‘s why I said it crossed everything. It crossed, you know, the female issue, you know, it was sexist, and it was biased, and it was racist. And aside from the fact that, you know what, it made trite the great event that took place for the game. Does anybody even know that Tennessee just now won a championship, that Rutgers and Tennessee played? No one even knows that, but no one cares because his reference to being cute was, you know, lessening the talents and the skills and the hard work of these individuals.

So it touched so very many people and I really do think, as I thought about this, no, I didn‘t expect Mr. Imus to be fired and we certainly didn‘t, you know, approach this with that idea. We really just wanted to have a face-to-face meeting with him. He needed to make a personal apology. And much to the players‘ credit, they wanted to see this man. They wanted to understand this man behind a mike and how could you say such things.

But we wanted to also say here‘s who we are. You know, I happen to be the daughter of a coal miner. My father lost both his legs in a mine. He worked hard each and every day. He only stayed out of the mine six months until he got prosthetics. I know what it is to work hard and this has been a lifelong pursuit and passion. I‘ve coached for 36 years and, you know what, to have gotten to a final championship—the last time I was there was 25 years ago.

Would I have liked to have won a national championship? I haven‘t won a championship yet. I‘ve been a coach that has taken three different teams four times to a Final Four. But, you know, this was a special moment because it was the most unlikely of teams. It was a great story to be told. And I was so very proud of these young women.

And it means so much to me that I can honestly say to you that, you know, as a person of conscience, I really do—have seen so much, you know, that I would like to see changed, like I said, with everything, so much of the language and that, that, really and truthfully, I would gladly exchange winning ever a national championship if we, as young ladies, would stand and allow the country to somehow be empowered and that we take back our country, and we start talking about moral decency. And when that happens—and we have to continue on. If it goes on, guess what? This was all good.

OLBERMANN: Vivian stringer, the coach at Rutgers. Those who may not be familiar with women‘s college basketball cannot perhaps appreciate the esteem in which she‘s held. It‘s extraordinary. Our great thanks for your time tonight Vivian.

STRINGER: Thank so you very much, Keith.

The part in red blew even KO away. Classic speech, and dead-center true.

As I've said before, Imus is just the tip of the iceberg in this entire mess of how far these talk show hosts will go as they all try to be the most outrageous. BUT, I also ask again...when will the Sharpton and Jackson entourage start after Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck? Why haven't they gotten as upset over the blatant lies that are told 24 hours a day by/on Fox "News?"

It has to be about black people before Sharpton and Jackson get upset. AND I'd say that's a bit racist.

_________________

"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."Honore de Balzac

"Democrats work to help people who need help. That other party, they work for people who don't need help. That's all there is to it."~Harry S. Truman